Rambles
by Tigger23505
Summary: Kirk completes a continuing education project.  Walking tours of historic locations.  New chapter - Reviews.
1. San Francisco

Rambles: San Francisco

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

Captain Carhart signed his name on the PADD and handed it to Kirk, who signed his name. With those signatures, Jim stood relieved of the command of Enterprise for the next thirty days. Carhart, the lead engineer for Enterprise's refit would be responsible for every inch of the ship until the end of the dockside availability.

Jim took the turbolift heading for his quarters. His bags were already in his BOQ room at Headquarters. Looking at his PADD one last time he looked at his "to do" list. There was only one item left undone. He had several days of field research left for his paper, "Trade-routes, Sail and Strategy." There were documents and maps that were not available in digitized form. He would have to go to the libraries that held them. Then he would write it up and submit it to the Continuing Education Board at the Academy. He walked out of his quarters heading for the transporter and his first day of research.

Jim stepped off of the transporter platform at the Academy, determined to have a good time. He had what he considered his rambling kit with him a reproduction engineer's bag. Today he had loaded it with a small first aid kit Bones had designed specifically for Jim. It was divided into two sections a small but versatile kit for any emergency situation that Jim might find himself in. (Not that anything would happen.) In a separate compartment of the first aid kit Bones had included several hypo spray units preloaded with antidotes to Jim's worst allergies. In addition to the first aid kit Jim had put in a small sketchbook, assorted pencils, and a PADD. Jim's drawings would never get him confused with Da Vinci, but he enjoyed sketching points of architectural interest, ship rigging details and other things that caught his eye.

Jim walked at a steady pace from the Presidio aiming initially for Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge. He was headed for the _Balclutha_ and the Maritime Museum. The only drawback to heading that way was that he might be spotted by tourists and he wasn't sure that he wanted to risk that. He was not taking the direct route, he wanted to walk along the beach and sneak up on the ships at the museum.

As he walked, he remembered one of the first lectures that Capt. Pike had given in his tactics class. He had stated that the most gifted tactical officers were students of not just military subjects, but students of trade patterns. He had also said that any officer who wanted to make the leap from tactics to strategy needed to understand how trade routes, navigation challenges and economics combined to create points of influence. As he recalled that lecture and others, he decided that he would chance the crowds and spend some time in the Museum looking at the ship models.

When he arrived at Ft. Point he turned to the right and walked along the edge of the Bay, stopping from time to time to look at the islands. Today Alcatraz caught his eye. In the early days of the California gold rush, Alcatraz had served as a coastal defense fort. With the common cannon of the day the fort could cover a radius of over 4 kilometers. He sat for a bit between the dunes and Crissy Field, and considered the effect of the batteries at Ft. Point, Ft. Mason and Alcatraz. He thought that he would not have wanted to be leading a flotilla into San Francisco Bay during the days of sail.

He stood up and continued walking along the beach front toward Ft. Mason, as he came around the point and could see the municipal pier and the museum ships he was struck by the contrast between the _Balclutha_ and the _C. A. Thayer_. The _Balclutha_ excelled in her day in the carriage of goods over the deep ocean, at the expense of maneuverability and a large crew needed to operate her sails. The _Thayer_ excelled in coastal trade, carrying lumber from Seattle to the rail heads in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The two ships were a classic example of Captain Pike's theory. Schooners were poorly suited to long haul shipping on the long runs of the Pacific and Global trade routes. By the same token no sailor in his right mind would try and load logs on the wire chutes of Mendocino on the _Balclutha_, she was just too big and clumsy.

Kirk walked along the shoreline towards the Museum building. When he got to the Museum he climbed up the bleachers on the Hyde St. side and found spot with a good view of the ships. Sitting down he pulled his sketchbook and pencils out of the bag and roughed out the two ships that he was concentrating on. As he sketched he added details from his knowledge of ships so that his drawing included furled sails on the yard arms of the _Balclutha_. The _Thayer_ also had furled sails when he was done. When the sketch was finished he pulled a small sprayer and applied a clear sealant to the page so that the pencil would not rub off when he closed the book.

After everything had been returned to its place in the bag, he looked up and realized that it was nearly noon. His belly was also sending him messages of discontent. It was time to find someplace to get a bite to eat.

To put it mildly most seafood disagreed with him and he didn't want to risk Bone's wrath. Fisherman's Wharf was off the list both because of the tourists and the fact that the smell of the boiling clams, oysters and lobsters made him sick to his stomach. He decided to look for one of the smaller bakeries in the area avoiding two or three of the ones most likely to have tourists. He remembered that there was a bakery just off of Washington Square so he made his way to the Hyde St. Cable Car turnaround and then to Columbus Ave.

Though he considered it against the spirit of rambling, he was hungrier now and didn't want to back track or find that the place he remembered was closed or out of business, so he pulled out his PADD and pulled up the restaurant finder application. He was pleased to discover that the little place he was headed for was still in business and open.

It was an old school deli and he ordered a chicken salad sandwich at the counter then sat down in a small booth at the back of the deli. With his back to the wall and a view of the street. His position had certain tactical advantages. He had a good field of vision and the approaches to the table were limited. As he realized this he grumbled to himself that he needed to stop thinking like a starship captain for a few days. It was the curse of being good at his job, always seeing the tactical situation, and trying to fit it into the strategic situation and its requirements.

He took out the PADD that he had been using for his research, and brought up his copy of _The Young Officer's Sheet Anchor_. Though he was a trained Starfleet Officer there was much old sailing jargon that had gone by the boards over the years and when reading period literature helped in visualizing and understanding the equipment, operation and maintenance of ships.

He jumped to a book mark and looked at a page showing yardarm rigging, he reached into his bag and found the sketchbook and compared his sketch to the pictures. He decided that he had done a good job with the rigging in his sketch and turned his attention to the sandwich, sipping his coffee between bites.

He considered a cannoli, then remembering Bone's lecture to him about watching his weight, he decided to have a second cup of coffee. Over the second cup he made travel arrangements to Key West where he would be checking some documents at the Mel Fisher Museum.

Author's Notes:

Thanks also to Starquilter57 for betaing

_Balclutha_ and _Thayer_ are real ships and can be found at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Darcy Lever's book _The Young Officer's Sheet Anchor._ A book dating from the age of sail, read by several generations of Merchant and Naval officers as they learned their trade.

The Mel Fisher Museum in Key West, Florida is not only a treasure museum but a rich trove of documents on the seagoing trade of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.


	2. Key West

Rambles: Key West

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

Jim barely made it to the shuttle in time. An ill-conceived stunt by a group of firsties on the engineering track had knocked out power to the half of the campus including the BOQ. As the sunlight flooded his room he woke up. He should have been up before the sun showed in this room. Grabbing his clothes he looked at his watch. If he was quick he could just make the shuttle. One thing about living on a starship, you soon mastered the art of speed dressing. He grabbed his bags and jogged to the shuttle terminal.

Once he was settled in his seat, he pulled out his research PADD. He brought up his stored images of historic navigation charts. Unfortunately, many of these were little more than thumbnails and there were details that he could not make out even after enlarging the image. From the collection of the Fisher Museum, one chart in particular, a copy from Herara y Toredesillas' _Novus Orbis, sive Descrptio Indiae Occidentalis_, showed all of the Caribbean and the Straights of Florida.

From his reading he knew that the Spanish built up their convoys in Havana harbor and sailed them home in mid-July before the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. It looked to Jim as though the Straights of Florida might be a choke point. Several factors were at play: heading east from Havana, Cay Sal Bank, The Bahamas and the Abaco Islands would complicate navigation for the Spanish fleet and provide operating bases for raiding sloops and schooners. It all depended on the local conditions. Reefs, sand bars prevailing winds and storms could work for or against either side. The Spaniards had the advantage of having been there first and of keeping the best charts. They also had records that showed the seasonal patterns of the winds.

Jim continued reviewing his notes, and working on the outline until the shuttle began its approach to Key West. He packed his PADD and other notes back into his bag.

After the shuttle landed he decided that he would walk from the shuttle port to his hotel near Mallory Square. He found that the solitude of walking helped him sort out his thoughts. He let out the strap on his duffel and slung it over one shoulder. Leaving the shuttle port he walked along South Roosevelt Boulevard. After at turn it became Bertha St. and he continued on until he reached Flagler Ave. At Flagler he turned to left, heading down the street. When he reached the end of Flagler, he turned right at walked five blocks on Reynolds St. then turned left on United St. When he arrived at Whitehead St. he turned right and headed down the street in shade of the trees about two blocks away he could see the trademark Purple Peacock in front of the B&B he had selected.

Once in his room he sat at the desk and arranging several PADDs on it. After thinking for a few minutes he picked up the one with his copy of Sun Tzu's _The Art of War._ Kirk had read it many times since being introduced to it by Captain Pike. There was always something to be learned from the old Chinese gentleman. Another strategic thinker that Pike had introduced to his class was an under-appreciated 20th warrior/philosopher John Boyd. After an hour reading Sun Tzu, Kirk set down the PADD. He stood and walked off to see the sights on Duval St.

Duval St. had long been the social focus of Key West with its eclectic mix of restaurants, shops, colorful tourists and even more colorful natives. Possibly the most unique natives were the wandering wild chickens. They had roamed the streets of Key West for generations, at times looked on with disgust by locals and visitors. They had become fixtures, an essential part of Key West, without the chickens it simply wouldn't be the same place.

He found a small Grill, set back off the street in a garden. Sitting at an empty table he ordered a cheese burger fries and a cola. As the sun set, in the west in a radiant burst of purple, pink and deep indigo, he thought that this might indeed be paradise.

* * *

The following morning he rose up early knowing that he would be spending much of the day sitting in one place. On his way out he stopped for a quick breakfast. Leaving the Peacock he took a longer route than necessary to get some exercise.

Turning right on Virginia St. he walked to Simonton St. where he turned left. He walked down Simonton to Greene St. turning left again. Arriving at the Mel Fisher Museum a few minutes before it opened. He sat down on the steps leading up to the Museum, and pulled the appointment information up on his research PADD. As he thought, he was to go to the ticket desk in the Museum and ask for Dr. Danny Ross the head of Conservation and Archives.

Dr. Ross walked in from the office suite, Jim was surprised to see tall, tanned young man. On closer look he noticed that Ross' eyes were beginning to develop the wrinkles characteristic of lots of time spent on sunlit water.

"Captain Kirk? I see another surprised guest."

"Please, call me Jim. I admit I was expecting a desk bound academic."

"If we're dispensing with personal titles, please call me Danny. We've discovered early in our history, that the best time to start the conservation process is before the artifacts are brought to the surface. So I spend a lot of time under water and getting work boats to and from the sites."

"If you come with me, we'll go to the Archive. I'm hoping that you can tell me a bit about what you are looking for."

As they walked, Jim explained that he was examining the relationship between trade-routes, technology and strategy.

"I'm hoping that a good look at contemporary charts will help me think more like both the Spanish fleet commander and the typical pirate/privateer. If I can get a handle on historic data, we may be able to translate it into principles to combat the pirates that we are seeing in space."

Dr. Ross said, "I think I know what you're looking for then. Just a couple of things that we need to take care of first. Our charts, like later paper charts were not really designed for longevity and have become very fragile." As he said this he walked over to a large table above a stack of large flat drawers. Opening the top drawer he took two sets of cotton gloves. "I wear large gloves, looks like your hands are about the same size as mine. We'll need to wear these to prevent damage to the charts from skin oils."

Dr. Ross then opened a second drawer in the cabinet removing several charts. Each of the charts had a thin tissue covering it and rested on a large foam support board. "I've taken the liberty of setting up a couple of other charts that you didn't ask for as well as the _Herara_ that you requested. How familiar are you with cartography?"

"I can't say that I am really overjoyed when Enterprise gets assigned a survey mission, but I've learned the importance of knowing the area around me. The Academy does offer a hydrography lab course where they actually go out on San Francisco bay and use reproduction equipment to survey part of the bay. I didn't take it, but my tactics instructor insisted the we read up on all of the methods. Ultimately the only real difference between Captain Cook's work in the 1700's and modern survey methods is the amount of data collected and processed. It is a lot faster to collect data electronically, than to cast a hand lead and read the soundings off of the line."

"OK, we can probably skip that part of the usual "lecture." I'll guess that you knew that the charts that we have here were copied from master charts in Seville and Lisbon, and that those charts were treated as precious state secrets on a par with code books, and weapons designs."

"Yes, we still do the same thing with our survey data. It all goes to a Federation office where it is processed and converted into stellar navigation data and pushed back out to the fleet. To be honest with you Danny, I and most of my crew are bored out of our skulls doing the surveying. I get most of my continuing education work done while we're doing the scanning."

"You're right, the only thing more boring than surveying, is mowing the lawn looking for a wreck." Kirk, looked surprised by the lawn mowing reference. "We call it mowing the lawn because the search legs are laid out in parallel lines that overlap the search area. The crazy thing is that at the same time you are bored, you're also keyed up and thinking our founder's mantra, "Today's the day."

"This first chart, by Jeffreys dates from 1775 and our copy is a reproduction from the Rumsey collection. Note that there is little in the way of soundings, but that there are some notes about currents near the keys. It also has information about the treasure fleet courses."

They studied the chart for a while, and from time to time Kirk made notes on his PADD.

Jim asked a question, "These charts were used in conjunction with written sailing directions weren't they?"

"Yes, and there is some speculation in the academic community that one reason for that was to make the charts and sailing directions less useful separated than together. A lock and key system if you will."

"Makes sense to me, the one would have the spatial orientation and other the soundings and recommended courses."

"Exactly!"

Ross covered the chart with a tissue coversheet, then placed it at the back of the large table. "Now that we have seen the Jeffrey chart and looked at the basic construction of charts, here is the _Herara_. " Removing the tissue sheet, he presented the chart. "You will want to keep in mind that Herara's version of this chart is probably not in the full size format of contemporary charts as it is part of a series of plates in an atlas. In some respects, you would be better off in Seville with the _Padron_ but you're here and the chart is here so lets keep going."

"It looks to me to be more tentative." Jim said. "That's probably because it is an earlier chart. It shows where the shallow water is, but is would be nice to have the sailing directions to go with it."

Jim and Danny continued to examine the chart for some time and Jim continued to add notes to his PADD. He got permission from Danny to take some pictures of several points on the map that were particularly interesting. Having completed his notes, he put his PADD back in his bag.

"Danny, I've got one more day here, is there any one place you can think of that would indicate a strategic importance to this area?"

Danny responded, "Jim, how much do you know about Fort Jefferson?"

"I know that it's a 19th century fort built by the American Army to protect the coastline. Other than that and its designation as a cultural landmark, not much."

"I think that you might benefit from a visit to the park. There is a ferry service to the park, it is a two hour trip each way and you get a little over 4 hours to explore the area."

"Danny, thank you for your time, and all the help. I'm thinking that a trip to the fort is a good idea. Thank you again, and if you ever want to see a starship, let me know."

* * *

Jim checked out some of the tourist shops in Mallory Square then headed up Greene St. to find a place for lunch on Duval St. After his lunch he returned to the Purple Peacock to work on his paper. He also reserved a seat on the next days ferry to Fort Jefferson.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Thanks again to Starquilter57 for betaing

The map mentioned is a copy of the Padrón Real (The master map of information discovered by Spanish Explorers and Sailors.) The original was kept in Seville, at the headquarters of the Spanish Trade Ministry.

The Purple Peacock, so far as I am aware is totally my creation, but in my experience of the Conch Republic it would not be out of place.

Col. John R. Boyd, USAF author of _Energy-Manueverability_ a mathematical justification of certain air combat techniques and airplane design evaluation; also author and presenter of _Patterns of Conflict_ a briefing package on Strategic Thinking.


	3. Fort Jefferson

Rambles: Fort Jefferson

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

Text notes: the tour guide's description and explanation are in italic.

* * *

Jim woke early and jogged to the pier to catch the ferry to Fort Jefferson. He found himself a quiet corner on the main deck. As he watched, the crew set up the breakfast bar.

Jim resisted the urge to watch the crew cast off from the dock and get underway. After all it wasn't that different from leaving space dock. Something that he had done numerous times on Enterprise. The engines were running at a low rumble as the ferry made its way out Key West's harbor. There was a no wake zone to protect the shore line. After moving out in to the main channel the catamaran increased speed slightly and Kirk noted the change in the drone of the engines.

Just before going on leave, Bones had cornered him and forced him through his annual physical. It hadn't gone well. Yet again he had failed not merely to lose weight, but had added more. As a result he had gotten the riot act read to him. Jim picked up a plate and carefully considered the options for breakfast. He passed on the scrambled eggs, bacon and grits opting instead for a bowl of oatmeal and some fresh tropical fruit. He also grabbed two apples from the table.

As he returned to his seat, the tour guide began the spiel over the boats PA system. He was going to just tune it out since it was mostly local landmarks and junk. Then as the ferry passed Sunset Key the tour guide mentioned Fort Taylor. Not another fort! Jim added it to his mental list of things to look at before leaving.

Following the wide turn to the northwest at Sunset Key the ferry increased its speed slightly. Still careful to manage its wake as it passed by the wildlife refuge. As the ferry entered the Gulf of Mexico on the north side of the refuge the captain opened up the throttles and in few minutes the ferry was moving west toward Fort Jefferson at full speed.

Jim tuned out most of the distractions. Retrieving his PADD from his bag, he began reviewing his notes yet again, looking for connections that he had missed. The key to unlocking the problem. Maybe Mel Fisher was right, "Today is the day."

Despite tuning out many things, he lifted his head when the ferry made a slight course change. Looking at the sun through the windows, he judged that they were heading more to the west than they had been. Taking a break from writing Jim put his PADD back into his bag. Then he walked out onto the bow for a better view of the sea and sky.

There were several low lying islands on the starboard side of the ferry, one seemed to have a reddish block structure on it. As Jim looked at it more carefully the ferry began to slow down. The started a turn to the right. The tour guide announced that they were in Southeast Channel and that Fort Jefferson was visible on the left.

The ferry began a counter clockwise circular approach to Fort Jefferson. As they got closer to the fort he could see that there were three tiers of gun ports. The ferry now began spiraling in toward the fort. As they came around the south end of the island the ferry slowed until it was barely moving. Finally they reached the dock, two of the crew jumped from the ferry to the dock and caught the lines thrown to them by others on the deck. They hooked the lines on bollards, then the lines were pulled snug to hold the ferry in place.

After a few more minutes a ramp was placed between the ferry and the pier and people began moving off of the ferry.

Jim queued up for the walking tour. He had spent some time the previous evening reading up on the fort and its history, but before walking around on his own, he wanted to get the tourist eye view of the fort.

After all of the tour group was assembled, the guide gave them some historical background on the fort and its construction.

_Construction began on Fort Jefferson in the mid 1840's spurred by the dangers of foreign meddling in American affairs, growing and active commerce in the Gulf of Mexico, and a desire to control the access to American ports. Fort Jefferson dominates the Garden Key anchorage with three levels or tiers of gun positions. Ships anchored in the vicinity of the fort were protected by the fort's guns from attack by foreign vessels._

_The southernmost in a chain of fortresses that stretched the length of the US Atlantic coast, Fort Jefferson is remembered along with Fort Monroe and Fort Sumter. Many other forts made up this chain of coastal defenses. Few of them were ever completed, construction being complicated by distance, terrain, and erratic finances. By the mid 19th century the forts were technologically obsolete. Concrete and brick having given way in their turn to earth berm construction; the final blow was the rapidly changing technology of big guns._

_The arrowhead shaped sections of the fort are called bastions. Gun ports visible on the left and right bastions prevented close approach to the walls of the fort. Barely visible at the base of the walls is the moat that surrounds the fort. The moat was intended to prevent the close approach of enemy soldiers. The white patches are areas where the damp air has caused the brick face of the fort to fall away. The park service has the unending task of maintaining and repairing the fort. On the far side of the fort are the remains of the US Navy Coaling station begun in the 1890's and not completed until 1904._

Motioning with one hand the guide indicated that they should enter the fort's main gate.

_From the 1840's to 1861 the fort gradually took the shape that it has today. Never officially finished, nor fully armed, Fort Jefferson served as a major link in the coastal defense fort chain that protected American shipping as it approached the US coast. From 1861-1865 in addition to serving as a provisioning station for the ships imposing the blockade of Confederate ports, the fort was a prison camp for captured southern soldiers._

_Following the Civil war the fort served as the prison for the 2nd tier members of the Booth conspiracy including Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's broken leg. Dr. Mudd was pardoned after serving several years of a life sentence. During a Yellow Fever outbreak at the fort that claimed several lives including the post Surgeon, Dr. Mudd treated the guards and prisoners of the fort until the arrival of the new Dr. his conduct was of such a nature that the staff wrote a letter to the President of the United States requesting his pardon. The letter is believed to have arrived in Washington, DC only a few days after the pardon was issued, and did not influence the President's decision. Of the Booth conspirators imprisoned at Fort Jefferson, one died in the prison, two were pardoned and returned to Dr. Mudd's Maryland home._

_From the 1870's to 1900 the fort served as the primary protection for the US Navy anchorage at Garden Key. As the Navy converted from sail to steam, coaling stations were established around the world. Construction of the Fort Jefferson Station was begun in the 1880's but the station was not completed until 1904. Coaling was a dusty, dirty process, roundly hated by the crews of the ships, but accepted as a necessary evil. Eventually the Navy converted from coal to oil as its fuel of choice. With the end of coal powered ships the coaling stations were abandoned._

_Fort Jefferson was declared a National Park site by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Reclaimed by the military during the 2nd World War and used as a Naval Seaplane base, the fort reverted to the park service and has been maintained as a window on history._

Jim filed away these facts for later, and checked to make sure that his PADD was set to record audio. Looking down at the floor, he noticed curved iron rails that rollers on the doors rode on. He wished Scotty was here to see the engineering of the fort, but he was also enjoying being off of Enterprise and on his own.

The first stop was one of the casemates on the first level. Jim noticed that there was an iron peg centered under the gun port. Further back was another curved iron track. Looking through the gun port he examined the field of fire. He thought, canister shot would be very effective here.

It was a toss up between his natural curiosity and the prompting of the tour guide. Jim looked across the parade ground.

_Moving on from the bastion, along the casemates, the eye is naturally drawn to the casemates on the far side of the fort. The the immense size of the second tier casemates and the barbette positions on the top tier is easily seen. Right of the center on the barbette is one of the small magazines._

_Next stop the main magazine, note the unfinished structure of the main magazine. Also the damaged brick along the one wall. Looks like they might have practiced with their rifles. The massive arched truss that we see formed the ceiling of the magazine. If the magazine had been completed it would have been surrounded by a concrete layer and shaped to shed water better._

_The original plan called for a large main magazine and a smaller magazine on the other side of the parade ground, magazines in each of the bastions, magazines on the barbette tier and ready powder storage near each gun. Runners carried the powder from the magazines to the guns, and in the grand scheme other runners would have carried powder from the main magazine to the bastions. Due to structural problems with the foundation, the fort was never completed and all powder was stored in the bastion and barbette magazines._

Jim looked at the wall of the magazine it was heavily pockmarked. The marks were deeper in some spots than others in roughly circular clusters. He thought to himself that the garrison must have used the main magazine wall for target practice. You could always count on security troops to practice with all the weapons.

_The next structure on the tour is the shot furnace, which was used to heat the cannon balls to increase the likelihood of fire and explosion on the ships being shelled. The placard describes the process so I'll let that picture do the work. At the cold end of the furnace there are two musket ball strikes on the granite block under the furnace doors. The furnace slopes so that the hot balls rolled down hill to the exit. In the granite slab at the exit end of the furnace note the arrowhead shaped notches in the surface of the block. It is likely that the furnace was never used in combat, and only rarely during training as the combination of red hot shot, and gun powder was dangerous. By the Civil war, round shot was effectively obsolete replaced with rifled elongated projectiles._

_We'll be going back into the fort now. At the end of one of the bastions was the fort's bakery. In theory this allowed the troops in the fort fresh bread. However, due to the lack of naturally occurring water, and the isolation of the fort, fresh bread depended on the availability of water, flour and fuel. On many days the soldiers would have had to eat hardtack. Hardtack was a baked biscuit generally 2 to 3 inches square, and not unlike a saltine cracker in shape. They were baked in quantity and packed in crates for storage and shipping. Often by the time that the soldiers received them they were thoroughly dried, infested with weevils, and edible only if powdered and added to bacon, or salt pork. One "delicacy" of the time, sloosh, was made from powdered hardtack and bacon fat. Quick, easy and utterly disgusting._

The tour group stopped for a moment at a spiral staircase. The guide continued the narrative.

_In most forts space was at a premium, the guns had the highest priority, ammunition the next and people last of all. One way of allowing vertical movement without loosing too much space is the use of spiral staircases. The picture shows the underside of the stairs. You will note that each step was carved from a single block and most of each block is supported by the block under it. Engineers call it cantilevered. The fort is also pre-OSHA, every soldier was expected to watch out for himself. There are no railings, anywhere._

_As we move about on the second tier, watch your step, it's a long one. Of course its not the fall that kills it's the sudden stop at the end._

Jim looked around some they had reached a point where they could see the exterior wall of he fort. There were several patches where the bricks had separated from the core.

_From here you can see the insidious effects of the high humidity on the brick facing of the fort. The mortar that held the facing to the concrete core has failed and the bricks are leaving the fort. As the gap between the core and the wall increases it catches more rain water and the rate of collapse increases. Keeping up with this is a never ending process. One that takes people skilled in 19th century construction technology and materials._

_Yet another way that water damages the fort is seen here, "fortsicles." The major component of the mortar and concrete is slaked lime or Calcium Oxide. It was made by burning limestone in a kiln and crushing the burnt stone. Over time water seeps through the concrete and mortar dissolving the calcium and depositing it on the edges of surfaces that form water drops. The same process forms Stalactites and stalagmites in limestone caves. Over there a stalagmite has formed under the drip line._

As they walked further into the fort the guide stopped and pointed out some other interesting points.

_Here you can see how the underlying structure of the fort is shown clearly. The line of bricks in this picture is the top of the vault for the lower casemate. In other places on this level the concrete fill that covered the arch is still in place. Over the fill was a layer of flag stones which leveled the surface of the floor._

A bit further along there was a display of photographs taken during the construction of the fortresses, the guide stopped and started talking about some of the pictures.

_The next picture shows how the materials were moved into position. The line of derricks on the wall was powered by the steam hoists on the wall of the moat. The original plan called for the fort to "float" on its concrete foundation on top of the sand of Garden Key. By 1865 it was clear that the fort was squeezing the sand out from under the foundation and settling unevenly. Several of the cisterns cracked under the shifting weight and became unusable for water storage. Many of the areas on the second tier that do not have concrete or flag stones are as they were left by the supervising engineer who determined that the fort could not carry the additional weight._

_Each of the gun ports was supposed to have been equipped with a pair of wrought iron shutters est in an iron frame. Unfortunately iron corrodes under the influence of moisture, and the process is accelerated by salt. The rusted iron expands, cracks the concrete allowing in more water. And the cycle continues. Here, in this unfinished gun port are the doors. The rust has accented the laminated grain structure of the wrought iron revealing the hammering that it was subjected to during its creation._

_Arriving on the barbette tier, we are greeted with the gun that replaced the Columbiads. The Rodman guns were designed to match the pressure levels experienced during firing. Thickest at the breech and tapering in proportion to the pressure, less elegant than earlier guns the advantage of Rodman guns was that for any given projectile weight they were lighter and stronger._

As the tour continued up to the barbette tier the group stopped at another display panel with a map of the east coast of North America on it.

_Here is a panel showing how Fort Jefferson fit into the overall plan of coastal defense forts. On the left side the rings depict the area protected by the guns of Fort Jefferson. The map on the right details some of the strategic factors, communication with California, unstable small states in the Isthmus of Panama, and South America. And most importantly the lack of natural deep water harbors in the Gulf of Mexico._

As they reached another display panel, Jim realized that this must have been one of the reasons that Danny had suggested this trip. This place had been of strategic importance through two different maritime technologies. First in the era of sail it was a navigation and traffic control point. Later under steam it had become a fuel depot for a fleet of ships.

_Ruins of the coal depot. The presence of the coal depot underscores the importance of the Tortugas Anchorage, and the Florida Straight to 19th century Naval planners. The coaling station meant that a fleet could be kept on station, nearly year round. It also provided a provisioning point for the vital picket line of small vessels that monitored the movement of shipping through the Straight._

The tour continued around the the top level of the fort. Sitting in reproduction carriages were two of the guns that the fort had been designed to support. The first, a Rodman, represented the state of the art in gun design just before the civil war. The second, was the gun that supplanted the Rodman, a Parrot rifle.

_Fortress Killers, the next step in the evolution of heavy guns was the Parrot rifle. Designed by R. P. Parrott, the Parrott was a quantum leap for its time. The comparison of the 8" Rodman, and 8" Parrot shows that the Parrott had the potential to be much more destructive. It didn't shoot much further, though the extra range was good to have. The real importance was the increased shell weight. The accompanying picture shows the devastating effect of the rifle on Ft. Pulaski._

Courtesy of Captain Pike's lectures on tactics, Kirk knew that the American Army had shifted to earth berm fortifications after the Civil War. Earth berm was less complicated to build, cheaper as it required little that was not available locally unlike brick or stone fortifications which were often far from the sources of brick and stone. Earth berm also turned out to be surprisingly resistant to artillery bombardment.

The final stop on the tour was the Fort Jefferson lighthouse.

_The last major function for the Tortugas station, Navigation. Initially the navigation function was fulfilled by the light here. It was later augmented and then replaced by the larger and more powerful light on nearby Loggerhead Key._

Jim continued walking around the fort examining different parts of it more carefully. When he finished he sat on a bench at near the gate. Taking out his PADD he updated his notes and sorted thorough the pictures that he had taken on the tour. When he finished with the notes, he walked back to the ferry and checked out the snacks. Grabbing two more apples he sat at one of the inside tables, working on the opening section of the paper.

Jim was peripherally aware of the other tourists coming back on the boat. He took only the slightest notice as the ferry cast off from the pier and began working its way back out the channel into the Gulf. By the time the ferry was at full speed back to Key West, Jim was hard at work on the paper.

* * *

Author's Notes:

The recipe for sloosh comes from Bruce Catton's Civil War Trilogy.

For those who would like to see what Fort Jefferson looks like here are some links:

You'll need to remove the spaces to recreate the urls.

http:/ www. nps. gov/ drto/ parknews/ loader. cfm? csModule= security/ getfile& PageID= 299997

More pictures

http:/ www. Nps. Gov/ drto/ photosmultimedia/

The tour guide's dialog was adapted from an illustrated travelogue that I wrote to accompany some pictures that I took during a self guided tour of the fort.


	4. Back to the Bay

**Rambles: Back to the Bay**

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

O'Malley's appears with the permission of Starquilter57.

Jim had spent the evening after his visit to Fort Jefferson weighing his options and deciding what to do next. He considered visiting Fort Taylor, but decided against it. Fort Taylor was loaded with many high quality original weapons, from the period of the Civil war. That was much later than the time frame that he was looking at.

He had made reservations to fly back to San Francisco. He was planning to do some more research in the Academy library and review his progress with his adviser, Admiral Pike.

* * *

The flight had been uneventful, and he spent most of the flight reading the latest copy of Starfleet Institute Proceedings. There were a couple of interesting looking articles in the tactics series. Unfortunately, they both turned out to be written by two of the academies, oldest arm chair admirals and were little more that a rehash of the current tactical doctrine at the academy.

On arrival at the Academy, Jim walked back to the BOQ. He dumped the laundry in his duffel into the hamper and set his PADD to sync with his account on the main computer. Jim considered it a safety measure, over the years he had lost several important projects to problems with PADDs as well as unfortunate accidents.

He sat at a terminal and logged into the library database. He was looking for data on the accuracy of period navigation equipment. After looking at several entries it appeared that there were two principal navigation instruments in use at the time. The Spanish were using astrolabes. One of the things that he had learned in Key West was that the pilot of the Atocha was known to have carried five on her last voyage. No one knew for sure if that was to have replacements, or if they were for different latitudes. It did establish that the Spanish were using astrolabes in the early 17th century. There was a competing design, the Davis quadrant, that was beginning to be used by English.

He needed to establish the accuracy of the instruments, and if possible get hands on with examples of each. The originals in museums were too valuable to handle. Some things were available as reproductions, and San Francisco had an active SCA chapter. Hopefully someone in SCA had reproductions of the Quadrant and Astrolabe, and would be willing to let him play with them.

* * *

After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, Jim headed for the Library. He spent most of the day in his carrel scouring the catalog and the stacks for books and articles on Astrolabes, and other navigation tools. He wasn't having much success locating copies that he could try first hand. He worked through lunch without realizing it. Finally about five pm he saved his work, transferred a copy to his PADD and shut down his terminal. He was really hungry now, and didn't want to eat in the Officer's mess on a Friday night. That could be really depressing, most of the people there were the ones who had duty that night. Anyone who could get away for the evening, was out in town somewhere.

He thought for a minute, then remembered that Admiral Pike held a standing reservation on Friday nights at a pub just outside the gate. He hadn't bee there since leaving the Academy, but he and Pike had spend many evenings discussing strategy, tactics and logistics over glasses of stout. He left the library and walked at a fast pace toward O'Malley's.

* * *

As he entered the pub, he could see Pike at his table in the back. Jim wondered if the Admiral had picked that table for its tactical advantages. Pike waved him over, indicating that he should sit.

"Jim, how is your research coming along?"

Jim smiled, "Not too bad Admiral. I got a chance to see the charts that I needed to look at in Key West. I also took a side trip out to Fort Jefferson."

"First thing, Jim, lets take a look at what you've got. Second thing, O'Malley's house stout or Guiness?.

"O'Malley's for me."

Pike signaled a waitress and soon a platter of potato skins and two stouts appeared on the table.

Jim set his PADD on the table and showed Pike the outline and what he had written so far.

They had thoroughly discussed everything that Jim had by the time they finished their second round.

With the second round two cupcakes appeared. They ate their cupcakes reveling in the coconut frosted indulgence. Jim was gathering his PADD and the cocktail napkins that they had written notes on. He was planning on going back to his room and typing the notes up.

Pike suddenly remembered something. "Jim, you mentioned needing to see and handle period navigation tools. See that guy over at the Compass Box?"

Yes, what am I missing?"

"That's Lieutenant Commander Barbosa. He's the new Navigation Instructor at the Academy. Rumor has it that he makes reproduction instruments. He'll either have the ones you need or know who does, One thing, he's the new Shark in the Boxing Pool. You'll need to beat him, or try really hard to match him."

* * *

Boxing the Compass was a popular drinking game, especially with the students learning to be navigators or helmsmen. The "box" was a table with an ornate mariner's compass inlay on it. A shot of rum was placed on each of the 32 points. The players took turns naming the points until a point was misnamed. That player drank the shot, the glass was replaced with a fresh one, and the next contestant would start. A successful boxing was toasted by all players. The game continued until there was only one person standing.

* * *

Kirk walked over to the Box. He noticed that the table was ready for a round but that there were no challengers. Barbosa stood at one side of the table, with a slight grin. He looked like a shark in search of prey.

Jim introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Jim Kirk."

Barbosa replied, "Hi Jim – I'm Marco Barbosa. You up for a little game?"

"Your lead or mine?" he asked.

Marco replied, "Challengers first." His smile grew a bit wider.

Jim rattled off all 32 points. "North, North by East, North Northeast, Northeast by N, … North Northwest, North by West, North."

Then the each tossed back a shot of rum.

This went on for some time as they each completed perfect rounds. The pace of play slowed, because they were both looking to be the last man standing.

Jim discussed some of the paper that he was working on and and some of the problems that he still needed to solve.

Marco played another round that ended with a toast.

"Jim, let me see if I understand this. You've looked at some original charts. But you want to get a feel for what navigating with the old tools is like."

"Yeah Marco, that's the whole problem. I thought maybe the SCA would have somebody but they're all about armor and jousting. All of the original ones are under lock and key in museums and untouchable."

"Jim, you want to come back to my quarters, and look at my "toys"?"

"What have you got?"

"One of my buddies on the Riemann was a crack engineer. We used the tools in the machine shop to make a Gunter's quadrant, an Astrolabe and some other stuff. I really miss Cooter. He transferred to the Wolcott and was lost in the Battle of Vulcan."

"One other thing Jim, if you really want to get the feel of these tools we need to get out on the water. We'll need to swing by sick bay for a sober up shot, or things will be really miserable tomorrow."

As they left O'Malley's with a slight wobble, Jim thought that he might have just made a good friend.

**TBC**


	5. Friday Night

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

**Friday Night**

After a quick stop at the academy clinic for alcohol detox hypos. They walked to Carlo's quarters.

As they entered Jim saw a large collection of navigation instruments, tools and equipment. Most of the instruments were displayed in transparent cases that protected them from dust. In front of the academy gray sofa was a custom coffee table. It looked to be teak, that had been allowed to weather to a silver gray. Under the glass were what Jim recognized as a reproduction chart of San Francisco bay from the 1850's. Laying on the chart as though set down for a moment were a pair of dividers, a parallel ruler and three-armed protractor.

Carlo came out of the kitchenette with a carafe of coffee and two mugs. "Kona – Sumatra blend? I get it custom from a small roaster over in Sausalito."

"Thanks. That's quite the collection you have."

"I inherited the table and about half of the instruments from my grandfather Joao. He lived most of his life fishing the Bay. Sometimes it feels like I grew up on his boat, _Spray_. He spent years planning to sail her around the world, then my grandmother got really sick and he sold her to pay for the treatment. The goon that he sold her to ran her aground on some rocks near Angel Island. He was able to recover some of the deck planking which he and my dad turned into the coffee table."

"Sounds like you come from a family of sailors."

"Fishermen actually, members of my family have been fishing the waters here since the 1800's. We're not really sure how long, or how they got here. The family was never all that interested in keeping records."

"I've been researching a paper, on Trade Routes in the days of sail. I'm particularly interested in the early 1600's in the Caribbean, Spanish treasure fleets and the English privateers. I was down in Key West earlier this week looking at charts and forts. I'm somewhat surprised that the Spanish were staying with the traditional instruments. Do you have any thing from that period."

Carlo walked over to a display case mounted on the wall across from the sofa. Taking a small key from his pocket he unlocked the door and removed a wheel like object about 20 cm in diameter. "This is a reproduction mariner's astrolabe. The cutout areas reduce the impact of wind, and all of the fancy work has been stripped away from it. It's major problem is the small size of the arc. It can't really be read within more than about a degree. Here, take the ring and hold it so that you can see through the peep sights on the arm."

Jim picked it up, putting his right thumb through the ring. He was surprised by the weight. "I need to work out more if I want to use this thing."

Carlo replied "That's not the half of it. Imagine that you are on a ship at sea and it is rolling as you are trying to get the sun's azimuth. It gets really heavy then."

Jim set the astrolabe down gently face up on the coffee table.

Carlo walked to another cabinet and removed a second instrument. Carlo explained, "This is a backstaff or Davis Quadrant. It had several advantages over the astrolabe: the user faced away from the sun so glare is not a problem, each of the arcs is larger than the astrolabe so that measurements are more precise, and the angle measured is the sum of the two arcs so a rough setting on the upper arc is fine tuned on the larger arc at the eye. The major drawback to the backstaff is that the early ones were unusable at night. Here, try this one on for size."

Holding it in both hands Jim found that it felt lighter, and found that it was easy to adjust the sight near his eye. "This one seems lighter, more like pointing a rifle."

"The object with this one is to adjust the vanes so that the sun's shadow is on the horizon vane, and the shadow vane is level with the horizon. It's getting late, and I've got an offer for you."

"Yeah it is late. What's the offer?"

"Meet me at 0830 at the Sausalito ferry terminal. You can catch the ferry at the Ferry Building. Bring a warm jacket and wear sneakers."

"Is that all you're going to tell me?"

"No, If you come, you'll have a chance to see how these things really work."

"Ok, I'll take the deal."

**TBC**

Author's notes:

I nearly forgot to write this weeks chapter. There are several really interesting web pages if you want to see what astrolabes look like. Maybe I need a different search engine.

Joao Barbosa's boat _Spray_ was named for Joshua Slocum's yawl _Spray_ which he used to perform the first solo circumnavigation.

Fun web seaches:

personal astrolabe one of the links is to a site that will create an astrolabe for your location as well as sell you one of the better books on astrolabes and astronomy

astrolabe java – a link to a java based interactive astrolabe.

Best overall web site for learning about astrolabes is www dot astrolabes dot org

link to a reproduction Davis quadrant www dot dehilster dot info/instrumenten/davis-quadrant/index dot html


	6. The Black Pearl

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters

**A Pérola Negra **

Carlo was waiting for Jim as he stepped off the ferry in Sausalito.

"Jim, how are you feeling today?"

"Not too bad, you?"

"I'm fine. If you'll come with me I'll show you how I relax after a rough week teaching navigation."

They walked about a kilometer to a small marina. At the end of one of the piers was a two masted schooner. It was painted black and had what looked like gun ports painted on the main deck bulwarks. Jim thought that it looked a little odd. "Carlo, that black ship at the end of the pier. It's a schooner isn't it? Something looks a little odd."

"Good eye Jim, that's my boat. You're right, she is a schooner, and she is odd. The design is called a knockabout schooner. They extended the bow and removed the bowsprit.* It is a little safer than the traditional design."

"What's her name, _Revenge_?"

"Right idea, wrong pirate, that's _The Black Pearl_. I like to think of her as the ship that a pirate like Jack Sparrow would really have used. Shallow draft, most of the men would be fighters, and she handles well up wind. Just like all the old pirate movies, film makers usually get it wrong."

The reached the Pearl and Jim discovered that the gun ports were in fact painted on. He noted several oversized fittings that looked like oar locks. "Carlo, oarlocks?"

"No Jim, those are mounts for the swivel guns."

"Sounds interesting."

"Let's go onboard and meet the clan."

* * *

Carlo had everyone meet in the main cabin.

"OK, everyone this is Jim Kirk. Jim, this is my family. Carlo pointed out each member of the crew moving clockwise around the seated group. My dad, Pedro; my cousin Bartolomeu; his boy Joao; and our cook my mom Estrella."

"The plan is to sail out toward the Farillons, and give Jim a good feeling for how it feels to be at sea. Remember, one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself at all times. Life jackets at all times topside, and especially when handling lines. When tacking remember to watch out for the booms. Last, don't put arms or legs in loops of any line, unless you want to change your name to Ahab."

"Jim, at the moment this is planned as a day trip, but if you want we can extend the return out until tomorrow afternoon."

"Sounds good, I brought my toothbrush, because you never really know what's coming up next."

"Mom, can we handle four or five meals?"

"No problem, son."

"OK, everybody listen up, we'll be out overnight. I'll call up the rescue service and make the changes to our float plan."

"Pop, you're firstmate, get everything ready to leave in 30 minutes."

"Aye, Aye, son"

"Jim, follow me and I'll show you the boat."

* * *

They started at the bow. Carlo named each sail, showing Jim the halyards and sheets for each one.

As the reached the ships wheel and compass, Jim reviewed what Carlo had told him up to that point. "So the sails from fore to aft are the jib, foresail and mainsail. Each sail is raised and lowered by a halyard, and position by sheets."

"Great job Jim. Now lets talk about communications and navigation. Here is the helm display for the satellite nav system, and just below that is the comm unit. The red button under the cover is for emergency use fire, sinking, man overboard only. Hope you were paying attention, because as of now this gear is for emergency use only. We'll be using other techniques for finding where we are."

"Got it. Radio and navigation gear for emergencies only."

Pedro, stood to one side waiting for Carlo to finish. When Carlo nodded his head, he reported. "Captain, the Pearl is ready to get underway."

"Okay Dad, All hands on deck!"

Under Carlo's instruction the Pearl cast off from the pier, under auxiliary power. Carlo indicated that Jim should take the helm. "Course is 110 magnetic, keep her to the right of the buoys."

Jim repeated back the instructions "course 110 magnetic, keep right of the buoys."

The Pearl held this course until Carlo could see the flashing light at Yellow bluff. Carlo had Jim bring her right until she was heading south toward the Golden Gate. In the deeper water and favorable winds the auxiliary was shutdown and the sails were raised. Carlo, Pedro and Bartolomeu; adjusted the sheets and the Pearl responded to the wind heeling slightly and slowly accelerating.

Abreast of Point Cavallo, Carlo called for another course change to southwest headed for the Northern end of the Golden Gate bridge. Once on the new course he called Bartolomeu; and Joao to take the watch. He instructed Bartolomeu to head for the Farallons after clearing Point Bonita"

"Jim, come with me and lets review what we've done."

* * *

Sitting at the chart table Jim and Carlo talked.

"Let's see if I've got this. Leaving the pier on the auxiliary was like leaving space dock or planetary orbit on impulse engines. Raising the sails was like switching to warp drive, right?"

"Correct, also while we were leaving the marina and getting into the channel, we were navigating by pilotage. For the navigation portion of this trip, or point of departure was Point Bonita. From this point the dead reckoning position is updated every 30 minutes based on the course and speed. If speed or direction are changed then there is an entry made on the traverse board and the position is updated from that information. This become important because all of the open ocean navigation methods are easier if you have an idea where you are."

"Ok, so navigation starts with your best guess about where you are. Then what?"

"That's where these come in." Carlo indicated a collection of books, the astrolabe and the Davis quadrant that Jim had seen last night." In about 2 hours it will be noon and we'll take some sun sights and then reduce them to get our position."

"Ok, but the clocks are set for local time, and the sun is on its own schedule. What I remember of Navigation, is that we need to know when local noon is."

"Excellent, to answer that question we need today's date, our latitude and the Nautical almanac. That will give us the information to know when we should be taking our sights."

* * *

It was quarter to 12 as Jim and Carlo stood on the deck of the Pearl with the astrolabe and the Davis quadrant. Jim struggled to hold the astrolabe up, keep it aligned with the sun and adjust the arm to get an reading.

Next he took up the quadrant, with his back to the sun he found that it was less difficult to get the sun's shadow aligned with the horizon blade of the quadrant. Then he adjusted the peep sight to put the sun and the horizon on the horizon blade at the same time. Carlo recorded the time and the readings on a slate with a piece of chalk. Over the next ten minutes they repeated the process every 30 seconds.

Adjourning to the chart table they examined the data on the slate. With the help of some tables and a calculator. The results were dramatic, the astrolabe position showed them still inside San Francisco Bay. The Davis quadrant data showed them off of the coast but north of their dead reckoning position. Finally they compared those positions with the modern satellite navigation position. That showed them about 28 kilometers off of the coast and slightly north of their intended course to Southeast Farallon Island. Carlo marked their position on the chart. Then they went back on deck.

* * *

For the remainder of the trip, Jim took his turns at the helm and worked the sails with the rest of the crew. Jim thought to himself that this was a lot of fun. Perhaps at some point he would buy a boat for himself.

* * *

By Sunday afternoon when the Pearl returned to Sausalito, Jim was pleased with the hands on experience with navigation and the sea. He took a ground car from the Ferry terminal to the BOQ. After a bite to eat in the Officers Mess he headed back to his room ready to work some more on his paper.

**TBC**

Author's Notes:

A knockabout schooner has an extended bow and the pole or spar at the front that most schooners use to support the rigging of the jib.

The Smithsonian Museum's Web site has a half model of the first knockabout the _Helen B. Thomas_.

Web searches on Helen B. Thomas or knockabout Schooner, for comparison you can filter the Smithsonian on line exhibit On the Water, use the 1870 to 1900 filter.

I'm taking a page from Samuel L. Clemmens (Mark Twain) who once apologized to a friend for writing such a long letter saying, "I'm sorry that this letter is so long, but I don't have time to write a shorter one.

I've deliberately skipped over most of the work involved in celestial navigation. It's mostly math and I don't know anyone who reads math books for excitement. There are a number of web pages that deal with the mathematics of celestial navigation and if you really get serious there are classes that teach it. Most are geared towards people who want to become officers on merchant ships, or who sail long distances on the oceans.


	7. Reviews

Disclaimer: I make no profit from my writing and do not own the Star Trek franchise or the canon characters.

Melenia V used with the permission of Starquilter57

**First Draft**

Jim was back in his room after spending a day on the Black Pearl. With all of the work that he had done before Enterprise docked and the field work that he had just finished he felt that it was time to write up the first draft and present it to Admiral Pike Monday or possibly Tuesday afternoon.

* * *

Abstract: An examination of political, economic, social and technical underpinnings of piracy. Piracy and its close cousin privateering have certain requirements. First there must be a valuable prize being shipped long distances. Second there must be an desire or need by one or more nations to conduct war on an inexpensive basis. Third, one or more nations need to have a technological advantage over the other. On earth in the 16th through the early 19th century these requirements resulted in what some have called the golden age of piracy. The Spanish were moving large quantities of gold, silver and gem stones from the Americas to Spain. The English and the Dutch were able to offset the Spanish and Portuguese advantage of high quality charts and sailing directions with more maneuverable vessels and more precise navigation instruments.

The author attempts to apply these principles to the understanding and combat of modern space piracy.

Jim looked at the abstract that he had just revised: he was afraid that perhaps it was a bit too ambitious, that he was over reaching his abilities and knowledge. He shrugged it off, it was the same feeling that he had going into combat, everything that could be done to prepare was done. Now it was time to jump in at the deep and finish the job.

* * *

The timer chimed again. Jim had hit the reset button twice, this time he stopped writing, saving his work. Standing up he stretched his arms and legs, then arched his back. He looked at the clock, time to go get something to eat.

Over a small steak, salad and apple pie, he mentally reviewed what had been done so far.

Returning to his room, he sat at the terminal and continued working. After another 3 hours of work he stopped. It wasn't finished yet, but what he had was ready to show Admiral Pike.

* * *

Jim, headed to Pike's office from his room. It was a little after noon. Pike always took an hour for lunch in his office, and then he opened his door for office hours.

Jim knocked on the frame of the open door.

"Enter!"

"Hi Admiral, got a minute?"

"Sure Jim. What have you got?"

"Nothing much, just the rough draft of my paper."

"Leave me a copy and I'll look it over. Can I get back to you tomorrow. One other thing. Could you swing by the freshman tactics class tomorrow?"

"Sure."

* * *

Pike leaned back in his chair. Jim's paper was very good. He had a gift for organizing complex material and making the basic concepts understandable. The paper laid out the requirements for successful piracy operations. That meant that counter piracy operations could concentrate on breaking the chain of requirements. Jim's list of previous successes offered a wide array of tactical choices depending on the precise strategic situation.

Some tactics would require major changes in fleet structure to support convoy operation, and they would probably need a new class of small ship for scouting and surveillance.

Another attack surface that could be reduced was regions of anarchy. The plague on Melenia V was merely one of the many examples where cultural collapse had made piracy possible. The Vulcan's had done what they could as a culture to fight the depredations on their people, but ultimately it had to be considered as a Federation issue.

* * *

Six months later

Sarek leaned back in his chair. He rarely read the Strategy section of Starfleet Institute Proceedings. He had engaged a cutting service to collect articles written by a certain Starfleet Officer. In this case one of his aides had flagged paper in Strategy and Tactics with a note that it would be well worth the Ambassador's time. It had been, Sarek planned to make use of it in the next meeting of the High Council and the upcoming Diplomatic Corps planning conference.

Kirk had called for increased effort on the part of the diplomatic service to identify potential locations of instability. Melenia V had cropped up suddenly, but given its location on Ferengi and Orion trade routes it had proved to be very susceptible to cultural collapse.

Beneath Kirk's cowboy exterior there was a disciplined mind.


End file.
